Crime & Safety

Unoccupied Bernards Home Burglarized for Copper Piping

Township police say copper piping was cut from home's basement.

Bernards Township Police said they are working with other law enforcement agencies on leads after an unoccupied home on Stone House Road was broken into and robbed of copper piping that apparently had been sawed from the basement of the circa 1960s-1970s structure.

The burglary apparently took place between about 1:20 p.m. on Nov. 4 and 1 p.m. on Nov. 6, according to the police report.

The home was locked, and entry forced, said Police Lt. Michael Voorhees.

The only other item taken was a portable air conditioning unit, he said.

Voorhees said that Bernards police are working with the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, and with other counties, in researching leads. He said that some arrests had been made elsewhere, but those charged have not yet been tied into the Stone House Road copper theft.

This has not been the first theft of copper, a metal that has grown in value, from a township home. Last September, a Long Hill Township man was charged after allegedly being  sawing copper piping inside a home on South Maple Avenue.

Voorhees said there have been a "couple" of incidents of copper theft in local homes, but those were not believed to be tied to the most current.

Last winter, a estimated $25,000 to $30,000 worth copper pipes and equipment were stolen from the closed Bernardsville pool, borough police reported. At that time, authorities in that town said the rising cost of copper has in general made the metal more of a target.




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